Urgent action needed to halt the rise in winter death tolls

The recent cold snap has brought delight to many children and inconvenience to
those trying to get to work. But for many older people, snow and plummeting
temperatures have spelt further financial hardship, illness and isolation.

Andrew Harrop, Age Concern and Help the Aged

8:00AM GMT 16 Jan 2010

Icy roads and pavements are making many older people prisoners in their homes, frightened to venture out through fear of falling. Family members have been unable to make their usual visits and many community centres and services have been forced to close. With more than half of people over 75 living alone, loneliness and isolation is a huge problem among older people and a prolonged cold snap will leave many severely cut off from social networks which are so important for mental wellbeing.

The cold weather is also harder on older people’s physical health. As last winter’s example clearly shows, a prolonged cold spell can lead to a chilling spike in winter mortality, as most excess winter deaths are caused by cold-related illnesses, such as circulatory and respiratory diseases. Yet, surprisingly the problem is worse in the UK than in many other European countries, with the number of excess winter deaths in the UK higher than countries with more severe winters such as Finland, Denmark and Austria.

One of the major problems many older people in the UK face is difficulty affording to heat their homes. It is difficult to believe, but at Age Concern centres across the country we meet older people who stay in bed to keep warm or only heat one room of the house because they are frightened they won’t be able to pay the bills. Our research last year revealed two fifths of pensioners said they were cutting back on gas and electricity. Last year 2.7 million pensioner households were living in fuel poverty and this year, with energy bills still high and the cold weather forcing people to heat their homes for longer, we fear the numbers of people living in fuel poverty will escalate, making the Government’s target of eradicating the problem by 2016 ever more challenging.

In the current cold snap it is extremely important that older people check whether they are receiving all the help they are entitled to. People who are not claiming the relevant qualifying means-tested benefits, such as Pension Credit, which currently goes unclaimed by up to 1.7 million entitled pensioners, will also miss out on Cold Weather Payments of £25. With these payments being triggered up to four times in some part of the country, some pensioners might be missing out on up to £100.

While short term measures such as these are helpful, a recent report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) on fuel poverty was right to say the Government's measures to meet emergency fuel needs and its longer-term strategy to reduce fuel poverty are "not fit for purpose”.

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This cold snap has clearly highlighted that in order to halt the rising additional winter death toll we need urgent long-term Government action to help people who struggle to pay heating bills during the winter. We are calling on the Government to produce a coherent fuel poverty strategy which improves energy efficiency measures in people’s homes and work with Ofgem and energy companies to make social tariffs mandatory.

:: Andrew Harrop is Head of Public Policy for Age Concern and Help the Aged